Online Workshop on Synchrotron X-Ray Needs for Soft Matter Far From Equilibrium; June/July 2021

This grant will support a highly interdisciplinary on-line workshop identifying important fundamental questions related to soft matter far from equilibrium and how to employ X-ray tools to answer these questions. Much of the richness of the world around us – and in fact life itself – arises from conditions and processes far from equilibrium. And yet in contrast to systems at or near-equilibrium, our understanding of the basic principles of far-from-equilibrium systems is in its infancy.

Non-equilibrium processes are particularly relevant in soft-matter systems, with huge impacts on areas ranging from health to energy to manufacturing. X-ray scattering studies, particularly using synchrotron radiation, are uniquely able to probe the three-dimensional, atomic-scale structure of soft matter over a wide range of time- and spatial scales, providing critical information needed to elucidate the fundamental processes and later to control them.

Non-equilibrium processes are particularly relevant in soft-matter systems. Since their structures are based on weak interaction forces, including dipolar, hydrogen bonding, pi-pi, or screened electrostatic interactions, even small external perturbations can substantially alter the behavior of soft matter. In macromolecular systems, for example, structural relaxation times can be very long.

As a result, they often retain a memory of the preparation or processing conditions, a key to the large diversity of macromolecular structures and many technological innovations. Furthermore, in analogy to biology, the study of soft dissipative systems with an ability to produce energy and convert it from one form to another has led to the emergent field of active matter.

In recent years, efforts have intensified to study non-equilibrium processes in soft matter systematically in order to explore the entirely novel phenomena associated with transient structure, order, and dynamics, and to improve our fundamental understanding of them. Synchrotron-based x-ray radiation has emerged as a particularly useful tool to contribute to this understanding. This workshop will:

1. Identify important science questions related to “Soft Matter Far From Equilibrium” during advanced manufacturing processes such as roll-to-roll printing of highly structured materials; 2. Determine how these questions can be addressed using synchrotron-based X-ray capabilities; 3. Identify critical needs for and characteristics of synchrotron-based x-ray resources to support this research; and

4. Identify the broader impacts of providing such resources to the soft matter community. The outcomes of the workshop will be captured in a workshop report to be submitted for publication.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.